Signed Sports Memorabilia And Football Sports Autographed Memorabilia
I remember the first music autograph I collected it was a signed album from a band called Slade
. I was always interested in getting albums signed in the 70s and I collected numerous items of signed music memorabilia throughout that decade. Rock autographs filled up my collection and over the years I have collected thousands of autographs, signed guitars and music memorabilia including several Beatles autographs; however I never did manage to get a John Lennon autograph.Most collectors of memorabilia whether it be signed sports memorabilia, celebrity memorabilia or the occasional autographed photo are not as fortunate as me and do not have the available time to dedicate to collecting collectible memorabilia. For those who do not have the time but love collecting, they have to buy autographs. I myself have been selling autographs in one form or another for nearly 40 years!!!
Buying autographs can be a tricky business as there are lots of unscrupulous dealers and people who deliberately forge signatures.
To avoid the autograph trap is what every buyer wants to do, so here are some simple steps to try and insure your money is well spent.
For example if you are looking to buy a signed Manchester united shirt or a signed Chelsea shirt it would be advisable to buy it from a British UACC registered dealer or an AFTAL approved dealer. You are probably wondering why? AFTAL and UACC are governing bodies who check regularly on there dealers and both organisations have strict policies as to the buying and selling of autographs. Also that is the country where those teams play! Over the years I have stood outside football stadia to get the occasional football autograph, signed football jersey, signed footballs or for those in the U.S. soccer memorabilia. In the UK that can be a cold and thankless task as the sport is played during the winter.
I have on occasion had the time to jet off to the U.S. and do some collecting there, when in the U.S. I concentrate on collecting actors autographs, Hollywood memorabilia, actresses autographs and if I have time I trail round the stores in L.A. for horror movie collectables.
In fact the last time I was in the States I attended several conventions and memorabilia shows where I picked up loads of collectible memorabilia namely, star trek memorabilia, star wars memorabilia and several celebrity addresses of which I will be writing to in the upcoming months.
On the subject of celebrity addresses please be careful as not every celebrity signs all there fan mail, some have autopens and others get there secretaries to sign on there behalf, I have seen many movie star autographs over the years like this and have had to disappoint several fans when I tell them.
So as the Sergeant in Hill St Blues said BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!!
by: Memorabilia 4u